Reaper Minis Kickstarter Offers Insane Deal

Here are all the figures you currently get at the $100 (Vampire) level.

A while back, Reaper Miniatures — longtime stalwart of the tabletop gaming figures — launched a new line of figures called Bones. The thing that makes them different from your standard metal miniatures is that they’re made from plastic and cost a lot less, plus they’re paintable straight out of the package, without a coat of primer. They’re also a lot easier to modify than metal figures, as you can use a snips and some glue rather than having to saw off the pieces.

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This also means that they’re easier for your kids to work with, as they don’t need a Dremel saw to make modifications. Also, no waiting around for primer to dry makes for a faster road to the fun parts of the hobby.

Because of all this, the Bones figures have been a huge hit. The trouble is that the molds to make these miniatures cost a fortune, which meant that Reaper couldn’t come out with new figures fast, instead allowing them to trickle out a bit at a time. To solve this problem, they turned to Kickstarter and set a goal of $30,000 that would go toward new molds.

As I write this, they’ve cracked $2.3 million. That makes it the best funded tabletop game ever and places it at #4 on the best-funded games list, including video games. It’s also #5 on all of Kickstarter, ever.

The main reason for this is that every time the drive smashes through a stretch goal, Reaper adds new figures to many of the backer rewards levels for free. At the moment, the reward for the $100 backer — which has been snagged by more than 11,000 gamers — comes with a staggering 221 figures. That comes to about 45¢ per miniature.

Reaper has also lined up a deal with RPG powerhouse Paizo to produce a line of official Pathfinder figures as part of the Bones lineup. A number of these come with various support levels.

The figures range from zombies and dragons all the way up through massive storm giants. If you play any kind of roleplaying or miniatures game, this is a treasure chest’s worth of figures for all kinds of uses. By way of example, click the graphic on the right for a full list of everything you get at the $100 (Vampire) level.

I’d be surprised if someone doesn’t come up with a game that explicitly uses these figures, just for fun. If I had time at the moment, I’d do it myself.

The Kickstarter drive ends Saturday, August 25, at 5 PM Central Time. If this kind of thing interests you, get in while you can.

Disclaimer: I know the Reaper guys well and even wrote a C.A.V. novel for them a decade ago.

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